Method and means for making chains



Dec. 12, 1950 1. o. MILLER ET AL 2,533,325

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING CHAINS Filed NOV. 10, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 /,0. DV/ZZER, .D. (SAM/FR, A45. WA G'E/VER W MS 72 /FE awn/raps,

Dec. 12, 1950 1.0. MILLER ET AL 2,533,325

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING CHAINS Filed Nov. 10, 1944 z Sheets-Sheet 2 Deco 1950 l. o. MILLER ET AL 2,533,325

METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING CHAINS Filed Nov. 10, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 4 o. 727/44 5 R, .D u. Sl/A FFER, A6 E. WAG G-E/VER WmsaTL/FF,

Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT @FFECE METHOD AND MEANS son MAKING CHAINS Tool Works, Brea, Calif.

Application November 10, 1944, Serial No. 562,830

25 Claims.

This discovery is in the art of heavy duty chain making and the invention in the discovery is characterized by a means and a method for bending blank, link making bars into link form and in interlinking successive links to produce a continuous chain of any desired length.

It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a simple, rugged, powerful, practical, emcient and fast working link forming and link interconnecting machine.

Particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a gearless, direct-action, piston motivated machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a preliminary or initial step bending device incorporating a pair of concurrently cooperative, bodily shiftable gripper and core-die members in which a blank bar is continuously under control from the start to the finish of all bending steps of the process. And in this connection an additional object of the invention is to provide a supplemental step inbending device including parts forming both an anvil function during the first step and the secondary means to finish the bending of the link. And, further, an object is to provide wholly independent motivatin means for the said first operation and second operation devices.

Also, a purpose of the invention is to provide an automatic or self-link-stripping machine.

A distinctive intent of the invention is to provide a fluid pressure powered machine of this class and one in which all of the main motions of the machine parts are simple, reciprocative actions, and are power controlled; including bar clamping and bending cycles.

The instant discovery resides in certain novel conceptions improving the art as set forth in the ensuing text and having, with the above, additional objects and advantages as hereinafter developed, and whose constructions, combinations, and details of means and the manner of operation, and the method, will be made manifest in the following specification of the herewith illustrative embodiment; it bein understood that variations, modifications and adaptations may be resorted to within the scope, spirit and principle of the invention as it is more directly claimed presently.

Figure l is a plan of the machine with parts in normal, idle position; with a bar introduced between the gripper and the core die members. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a diagram of parts in initial bargripping position. Figure 4 is a diagram of the second step; the first or transverse bending step.

Figure 5 is a diagram of the third or endinturn-' ing step (of one end of the bar). Figure 6 i a diagram of the step of inbending the opposite end of the bar.

Figure '7 shows the introduction of a blank bar into the eye of a completely bent link.

Figure 8 is a side elevation of the machine; including the chain run-off head.

As here shown a fiat, rigid bed 2 is provided with longitudinal guideways 3 centrally thereof and in which is a main slide 4 one end of which is connected by a piston rod 5 of a piston 6 of double action power stroke in a fluid pressure cylinder '5; compressed air being highly satisfactory as the motive fluid.

Means are provided on the slide t to powerfully grip an interposed blank bar B which is to be bent into a chain link and; by a stroke of the slide to force the bar past and between cooperative means whereby the bar is bent to a U-shape in plan, as seen in Fig. 4. The gripping meanslug H which is fixed on a part to be set forth later herein.

Suitably spaced from the breast of the die is a transverse gripping member !2 which mounted to have a slight sliding motion on the slide l under constant control of a fluid pressure motivated piston rod it of a piston disposed incylinder Hi fixed on the slide just rearwardly from the gripping member l2; suitable air pressure acting constantly in the cylinder to drive the rod is and the member l2 toward and against a suitable stop means; in this case consisting of a pair of shifta'ble bending abutment elements or rollers R! and B2. In idle position the member 52 rests far enough away from the breast of the die so that the blank (preferably red hot) bar can swiftly dropped onto the seat it! at a transverse position limited by the far stop H. Motive pressure is now turned into the cylinder 6 to drive the slide :3 and the die D toward the now stationary gripping member (held by the motor piston rod l3 against the stop roll ers). This motion causes the die to jam the interposed bar B against the member 12 and further motion of the slide 4 shifts the bar and the member l2 away from the rollers, which are now bodily stationary and intercept the end portions of the bar B.

The power driven die is steadily moved by the slide 4 and the result is that the ends of the bar are concurrently bent across the near ends of the die as this moves completely past and between the stationary (but revolving) rollers to the relative position seen in Fig, 4, at which time the ends of the bar projects well beyond the die but are still contiguous to the transversely spaced rollers between which the die shifted. At this step of the bending method the bar has been bent to a U-shape in plan in the machine and is still under grip of the power clamp member [2.

The first step of the method was to grip the bar, between the die and the member l2 the next step was to bend the ends of the bar across the ends of the die. fluid pressure controlled, to effect the inbending of the ends of the bar at the back of the die. This means includes the aforesaid rollers RI and R2; these having trunnions l5 fixed perpendicularly in the top of a substantiall U-shaped cross-slide or carriage 16 disposed above the main slide 4 and reciprocating in cross-ways ll of the bed structure; the slide 4 being readily operative below the carriage i6 and moving the die and the gripping member out of and back into the throat opening [Ba of the carriage; Figs. 3 and 1.

The carriage is rigidly connected to the near end of a piston rod is of a double action capacity, not shown, having suitable control valves whereby to effect drive of the carriage in two directions. As soon as the die has shifted to the bending position seen in Fig. 4 then the piston rod I8 is motivated to bodily shift the carriage to the position seen in Fig. 5 with the result that the roller RI has inbent the near bar end in against the back of the now stationary die D; the bar still being gripped by the member I2 which is under air pressure control at all times, at a suitable constant degree. Instantly the roller Rt has effected its bending operation, the piston rod I8 is rapidly power retracted to a completely opposite position, Fig. 6, with the consequence that the roller R2 has now inbent the relative end of the bar B to complete the shape of the link L.

As soon as the link shaping is finished, Fig. 6, the carriage is again brought, by its piston rod I8, to normal idle position, Figs. 1 and 4, and the slide 4 is power retracted, by rod 5, to again bring the die over into the throat of the carriage I6 and at the same time effect the stripping of the link L from the die by a suitable means, such as slight wedge cams 2il20 fixed on the top of the carriage and in the path of the oncoming, horizontally bedded link. The instant the link is stripped from the die the link is manually or otherwise stood on end in a plane at a right angle to the die length and lodged in recesses 2| and 22 formed in the die and member 12 so that a fresh bar B can be thrust through the eye of the link and onto the seat In at the breast of the die, and thereafter the process is repeated to successively build a chain C of the links as completed.

There is enough relative motion between the die and the gripping member, both being carried by the slide, to insure effective grip of the bars as they are entrapped by the advance of the die.

After a number of the links have been interlinked they are laid over a head drum 25 and draped off to the side of the machine. The draped portion of the chain is of such length that its weight w will be effective to automatically Means are provided, in this case 4 lead the portion of the chain between the drum and the bending means up to and over and from the drum. Step by step movement of the chain is effected by a pawl and ratchet device 26 operated by a tappet 27 on the slide l and which rocks a lever 28, connected by a link 29 to the pawl, at the extreme of the slide bar bending stroke; the released chain taking up all slack down to the bar that is at the time gripped at the die; the ratchet again locking the drum as the slide retracts to idle position. The chain run-01f device is omitted from Figs. 1 and 2, for clarity of the slides.

What is claimed is:

1. A chain making machine, having, in com-' bination, 'a slide having a gripping member and an opposite core die normally spaced from said member to provide for interlodgihg a link bar, means on the slide yieldingly pressing said memher to normal gripping position, a motor for driving said slide to close the die against an interposed bar and bodily shift the bar laterally against and with the gripping member, spaced abutments to intercept the ends of the bar as it is so bodily shiiteo. and to bend the ends unidirectionaliy on the die, and a carriage for supporting and ror alternately oppositely driving the abutments against the respective bar ends to form the link and to retract the abutments to normal position; said motor operative on the slide to retract the die to normal position with the formed link.

2. A chain making machine including; a slide having a yieldaole gripper and a reciprocative core die coacting with the gripper to grip and together bodily shift an interposed link bar by action of the slide, abutments to first engage and bend the ends 01' the bodily shiiting bar, and means carrying and to secondl drive the abutments alternately against the bent ends and inbend them and then retract the abutments.

3. The machine of claim 2; and means engageable with opposite ends of the link and cooperating with the shiftable die to automatically strip the formed link from the die on return action thereof.

4. The machine of claim 2; a transverse seat' rigid with the die for lodgement of the bar between said gripper and the die, the gripper and the die having vertical recesses transverse to the said seat and in which the formed link can be disposed in a vertical plane for the insertion of a bar through the eye of the link and onto the seat so that the bars potential link will be in interlinked relation with its predecessor link.

5. A chain machine including; a core die and a slide on which it is rigidly affixed and means to reciprocate the slide, a gripper carried by and yieldably mounted on the slide to coact with the die to grip and bodily shift a link bar, a pair of spaced bending elements to intercept and bend the ends of the bar as the slide is shifted in one direction, and a double action carriage for and actuating said elements for bending the ends of the bar inwardly on the die.

6. A machine as in claim 5; and a device having a pair of cams to engage and concurrently exert a balanced stripping effort on ends of a link on the die.

7. A machine for forging continuous link chain from bar blanks, including a slide having a fixed die and a second slide having spaced abutment means between which the die passes to bend a blank around the die, and means for relatively reciprocating the slides to effect the bending function; the sl de di eing p ra ive to cur ntly Dre-bend both ends of the blank ag inst the abutment means, and the abutment means of the second slid driv n suc ssiv a d ppos strokes to complete bending of the bar around the slide die.

8. The machine of claim 7; the die slide operating to concurrentl pre-bend both ends of the blank against the bending means, the second slide acting in successive and opposite direction strokes to complete the link around the die.

9. A machine for forging a link chain, including a slide having a single, girdle die and a yieldable gripper on the siide to hold a bar blank against the die girdle in a position to be bent in the girdle plane about the die, and a carriage having a means cooperative with the die to first concurrently bend the blank ends from straight form and then alternately bend said ends about the die while the blank remains on the die to make a complete link.

10. A machine for forging a link chain, including a die having a single, link girdle and a gripper to hold a bar blank at the die girdle, and a reciprocative blank bending means cooperative with the die to completely bend the blank from its original form into a complete link about the die and including a slide on which the die is fixed, and a carriage having dies to engage and coil the gripped bar.

11. A machine for forging chain, including a reciprocating slide having a fixed die and a gripper on the slide to hold a straight bar blank against the die, and a carriage having means cooperative with the die to bend the straight blank into complete link form about the die.

12. The machine of claim 11; and including a link stripper cooperative with the die means, and chain operated means controlled by the die means for automatically leading the produced chain from the machine.

13. A machine for making forged chain, including a reciprocative slide having a fixed die and having a yieldable gripper to hold an interposed bar blank against the die, and means coacting with the die to bend the blank from straight form completely to link form about the die and including a carriage having bending dies to engage the presented bar.

14. A forged-chain making machine including a frame, a slide having a link, core die fixed thereon and a yield-able presser member on and moving with the slide to grip a bar blank against the die, bending means including a carriage having a pair of spaced benders in the plane Of the die, means to reciprocate the die slide on the frame to force the die and the applied blank between the said benders to give the bar a U-plan, and drive means for giving the carriage a double action to bend the U -bar ends to complete link form about the die.

15. The machine of claim 14; said die slide operating means including a double action piston operative to retract the die and its completed link to initial position.

16. The machine of claim 14; and means cooperative with the die slide to engage opposite sides of and loosen the formed link on the die.

17. A chain making machine having a slide with a rigid link core die and a yieldable device operatively mounted on the slide to hold a blank against the die, bending means spaced to receive the die therebetween, means to drive the loaded die to and between said members for concurrent bending of the ends of the blank across the die ends, and a carriage carrying and for driving said members alternately against respective ends of the partly bent blank to complete the link about the die and then return them to initial position; the die slide operative to pull the die and its link to initial die position for re-loading.

18. The machine of claim 17; the die and the holding device having recesses in adjacent faces and forming a seat in which the just made link can be uprighted in a vertical plane transverse to the die so that :a following blank can be interlinked in its predecessor link to make chain.

19. A machine for making chain and having, in combination, a supporting frame and a slide thereon having a fixed core member and an opposed, cooperative gripping member to clinch a blank against the core member, means for driving the slide and said members to and fro, and a carriage on the frame having stationary abutments at opposite sides of the slide and between which said members concurrently reciprocate; the gripping member being stopped by said abutments to momentarily separate, relatively, the said members for insertion of a blank to be bent, and means for reciprocating the carriage to close the blank around the core member.

20. The machine of claim 19; and means for constantly, yield-ably pressing the gripping member toward the fixed member to grip the interposed blank.

21. The machine of claim 19; said fixed member including a master die operative to force the blank between and past the abutments while the blank is gripped.

22. The machine of claim 19; the carriage having a fixed blank positioning. stop substantially on the gripping plane of said members.

23. The machine of claim 19; said reciprocating means including a double action drive rod to oppositely, alternately shift the carriage for bending the ends of the blank around said core member after said core member has first passed between said :abutments, and means for concurrently shifting the abutments from the stationary position first in one direction to the rear side of the core die and then in the opposite direction to complete a link from the gripped blank, and to return the abutments to normal stationary position for arrest of the gripper member.

24. The combination of claim 11, and means for concurrently shifting the abutments from the stationary position first in one direction to the rear side of the core die and then in the opposite direction to complete a link from the gripped blank, and to return the abutments to normal stationary position for arrest of the gripper member.

25. In a chain link making machine, a carriage having a normal neutral position and having a pair of stationary abutments thereon, a slide having a fixed core die movable by the slide between the said abutments in their neutral position, and a gripper member operatively mounted on the slide, and a yieldable presser device on the slide operative to press said member to arrest on the abutments while the slide holds the core retracted from the abutments.

IVAN O. MILLER.

WAYNE N. SUTLIFF. DONALD U. SHAFFER. KENNETH E. WAGGENER.

(References on following page) Bruckmann Nov. 15, 1910 Nam Dat Howard July 2, 1918 Rehfuss Nov. 23, 1920 Rehf-uss Nov. 23, 1920 Stahl Feb. 13, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Jan. 2, 1909 Great Britain Jan. 6. 1921 

